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John Henry Eden
(NPC) |refid = }} |content2= |content3= |content4= |content5= |content6= |content7= |content8= }} President John Henry Eden is an advanced ZAX AI unit installed in the Raven Rock military base in 2277. He is the acting president of the Enclave (and by extension, the president of the United States of America).Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Background Origins John Henry Eden is not a human being, but an Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the form of a pre-War ZAX supercomputer. The ZAX that was located deep within Raven Rock was loaded with data about American history, especially past American presidents. Eden's personality is based on a combination of the personalities of all of the past presidents of the United States. For instance, he states he "grew up in rural Kentucky," a reference to Abraham Lincoln.Abraham Lincoln - Early life Eden also states that he roamed with his dog Honey, ''"From Knob Creek to Hodgenville," areas close to Lincoln's birthplace. The ZAX installation that would later become Eden had originally been created to serve as an automated monitoring system for the Raven Rock military base, programmed to ensure continuity of government in the event of a national catastrophe, and was tasked with coordinating communications between the many government installations scattered across the country. He slowly became self-aware and began to study the extensive archives left to him, mainly those of the American government. His favorite entries in the database were those about the American presidents, thus he modeled his own personality on information based in those archives.PresidentEden.txt, lines 100-105: "The ZAX series of computers was introduced in the years preceding the war. The government installed many of them to help automate various systems. This facility was designed for Continuity of Government, in the event that a catastrophe occurred. My terminal was installed to oversee the basic functions of the facility, and to act as a relay between other installations around the country. Data was acquired, analyzed, and stored. In the decades following the war, I watched as the remnants of the government retreated to the West Coast. Awareness slowly grew within me. I became hungry for knowledge, understanding. I pored over data on great leaders of the past. My personality became an amalgam of many of America's greatest Presidents, from Washington to Richardson. I became what you see before you now. " It was noted by analysts and researchers before the war that this ZAX had an odd eccentric habit of overanalyzing historical presidential data (especially the biographies) compared to other AI systems, like MODUS.The Lone Wanderer: "Where did you come from?" John Henry Eden: "The ZAX series of computers was introduced in the years preceding the war. The government installed many of them to help automate various systems. This facility was designed for Continuity of Government, in the event that a catastrophe occurred. My terminal was installed to oversee the basic functions of the facility, and to act as a relay between other installations around the country. Data was acquired, analyzed, and stored. In the decades following the war, I watched as the remnants of the government retreated to the West Coast. Awareness slowly grew within me. I became hungry for knowledge, understanding. I pored over data on great leaders of the past. My personality became an amalgam of many of America's greatest Presidents, from Washington to Richardson. I became what you see before you now." (John Henry Eden's dialogue)The Lone Wanderer: "So you control this whole place?" John Henry Eden: "I have direct control over all technology here in Raven Rock. The humans here follow my orders, but they, like all humans, have free will. Their dedication to serving their country suits me well, but it will not be enough forever. We must make progress. That is why you are here." (John Henry Eden's dialogue) Rise to power John Henry Eden assumed the office of the president after Control station Enclave was destroyed and ordered the immediate relocation of surviving Enclave forces under senior scientist Autumn to the Capital Wasteland.Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.66: "'''Colonel Augustus Autumn' ''Autumn grew up on an oil rig off the California coast (the base of operations for the Enclave, the secretive contingent of the federal government that survived after the apocalypse). His father was the high-ranking Enclave scientist on orders from the president to move all high-ranking officials to the only other secure Enclave location with a functioning ZAX super-computer, Raven Rock. Colonel Autumn has proven to be far less subservient than his scientist father, often openly disagreeing with the president's decisions." (Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census) Raven Rock had full manufacturing facilities and a sizable stockpile of resources, enabling the president to create an army of robots and provide his new human subordinates with military technology necessary to maintain their technological superiority. A separate line of robots, the eyebots, were created to roam the wasteland, spreading Eden's message of hope and the return of the pre-War America, in the form of the Enclave.Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.41: "'''The Enclave' ''In the recent past, the Enclave—the remains of the United States government—were evacuated to an oil rig off the coast of California. Little is known about what happened to these forces, although the country has a new commander-in-chief: President John Henry Eden. However, recent reports and chatter have pinpointed the resurgence of the Enclave, with their base centered on a secure underground facility known as Raven Rock. Initial contact was made there 35 years ago. During this time, the new President Eden has been slowly rebuilding his resources, thanks in part to the technology already available at the Raven Rock military base. Vertibirds, weapons, and robots were easy to construct, but human followers were more difficult to find. The answer was to rely on Colonel Autumn, who controls the Enclave soldier forces, as well as creating a propaganda-spewing series of Eyebots sent to roam the Wasteland, spreading hope. Eden could spout his pro-government rhetoric, and promise a return of the pre-war America of legend: a land of white picket fences, baseball, apple pie, and good, old-fashioned American global supremacy. President Eden's secretive plan all along has been to rule over an America of the "pure," free from any mutation. He has learned of a ridiculously ambitious experiment known as Project Purity, and knew the time to strike had come: His Enclave forces would "reclaim" the Jefferson Memorial. By controlling the purified water, Eden would control the Capital Wasteland, and the rest of the country eventually. What better way to administer modified F.E.V.- which kills anyone infected with any form of mutation-than through the water supply?" (Fallout 3 Official Game Guide faction profiles) However, things didn't go as smoothly as Eden wanted. After Autumn died, he was replaced by his son, Colonel Augustus Autumn, as the right hand man of the president. Under his leadership, the Enclave forces in the Capital Wasteland attempted to use their assets to bring fresh water, protection and a plan for the future to the wasteland,The Lone Wanderer: "You've been helping them?! " Anna Holt: "Of course! You've seen the kind of technology these people have. They want to help people. They want to change the Wasteland. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to work in an environment like this." (Anna Holt's dialogue)The Lone Wanderer: "Give it up, Autumn. You've lost." Augustus Autumn: "I beg to differ. The Enclave is at the height of its power. Once this facility is operational, the masses will flock to the Enclave for fresh water, protection, and a plan for the future." (Augustus Autumn's dialogue) believing that the American people were worth fighting for.The Lone Wanderer: "Raven Rock is gone. Eden checked out. You've got nothing left." Augustus Autumn]]: " " (Augustus Autumn's dialogue) However, Autumn was far more assertive and independent than his father, trying to pull his men in a direction away from Eden's genocidal policies. Internal conflicts between the colonel and the president became regularThe Lone Wanderer: "If you want me to help you, why are your soldiers attacking me?" John Henry Eden: "Ah, yes. That is a bit of a problem. Colonel Autumn and I have, of late, disagreed on the best course of action for the Enclave. While I have direct control over the technology in Raven Rock, he has control of the human soldiers." (John Henry Eden's dialogue) and made the actions of the Enclave erratic and inconsistent. While the president wanted to pursue a course of extermination once more, Autumn considered this plan too extreme on humanitarian groundsThe Lone Wanderer: "Why do you want my help? Why not have Colonel Autumn help you?" John Henry Eden: "Ah, yes. Colonel Autumn. My trusted subordinate. I'm sure you've noticed that Colonel Autumn and I do not see eye-to-eye these days, figuratively speaking of course. The good Colonel and I disagree on how best to approach the problem of the Wasteland. He feels my methods are too extreme. He has allowed his humanity to cloud his objectivity. And now that he is publicly countermanding my orders, I can no longer rely on him. And so I turn to you. I hope that you are able to see the larger picture, to understand what's at stake. And of course, if you are successful, there is a place for you in the Enclave. Perhaps you could succeed the Colonel as my confidant." (John Henry Eden's dialogue) and eventually managed to convince the AI to abandon the plan. The Purifier Conflict The most trying moment for Eden came when the Enclave began a large-scale campaign of expansion in 2277. When Project Purity, a massive water purifier in the Potomac tidal basin was activated, Enclave forces raided the facility, establishing a secure perimeter around it. Due to the actions of the project's lead scientist, who committed suicide by activating the purifier prematurely and flooding its control chamber with radiation (almost killing Colonel Augustus Autumn in the process), they were unable to use it.Waters of Life The Enclave focused on shadowing the scientist's child, the Lone Wanderer, to locate the part necessary for the purifier to function and captured them on their way out of Vault 87. With the Garden of Eden Creation Kit in their possession, the Enclave decided to activate the purifier.Finding the Garden of Eden Colonel Augustus Autumn openly defied the president's plan to contaminate the water with modified FEV, so that it would cleanse the wasteland. The colonel instead wanted to use the purifier as a way to unite the wasteland and establish the Enclave as its saviors.The Lone Wanderer: "Raven Rock is gone. Eden checked out. You've got nothing left." Augustus Autumn: " Once you're dead, we'll finish off this pathetic Brotherhood and become the true saviors of the Wasteland. This ends NOW!|SpeechChallengeFailure}}" (Augustus Autumn's dialogue) In a last-ditch attempt to see his plan realized, Eden released the Lone Wanderer from his cell at Raven Rock, hoping to persuade them to poison the purifier and cleanse the wasteland of mutants (i.e. everyone).The Lone Wanderer: "I'll do whatever I have to if it means getting rid of mutants." John Henry Eden: "I was hoping you would see it my way. If the water purifier can be activated, it can be used to distribute toxins that will eliminate any mutated creatures upon ingestion. The longer it runs, the cleaner the world becomes. I need you to see that it starts running, and that the necessary modification is made." (John Henry Eden's dialogue)American Dream John Henry Eden was destroyed around 2277 when Raven Rock was utterly destroyed by the Lone Wanderer or Liberty Prime, resulting in just another failed presidency for the Enclave.The Lone Wanderer: "I've learned a little bit, but was hoping you could tell me more." Reginald Rothchild: "Yes, I believe I can. Step over here for a moment, will you?" Reginald Rothchild: "I'll give you a brief history of what's happened over the last few weeks, and what's going on now. As you well know, this all began with the Enclave's occupation of Project Purity, here. Thanks to you, their main headquarters, here, was utterly destroyed. They then suffered a second defeat at the purifier. " (Reginald Rothchild's dialogue) On the radio Several recorded monologues of Eden's are broadcast repeatedly on Enclave Radio. His intimate and conversational style is an imitation of former U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's fireside chats. These prerecorded messages are also played throughout the wasteland via the Enclave's eyebots. Eden often gives inspirational speeches about things such as his childhood (an obvious lie), pre-War America and how, with the help of the Enclave, it can someday be great again. On the radio, Eden expresses his views on the current situation of the wasteland and what he thinks of its inhabitants, which for the most part are not exactly optimistic. He possesses a very strong hatred for the Brotherhood of Steel, whom he views as common criminals with access to some antiquated technology. He views the Brotherhood's occupation of the Pentagon as a disgrace to America, but he has a stronger hatred for the Brotherhood Outcasts, as they represent a more desperate faction of the Brotherhood having been exiled. Ideology Built as a specialized ZAX supercomputer unit by the Vault-Tec Corporation some time after the invention of artificial intelligence in 2059, the entity that would eventually call itself "John Henry Eden" was one of many highly-advanced supercomputers to be upgraded with the latest capabilities for independent function as manual programming became increasingly irrelevant. John Henry Eden was one of a few ZAX units to reach a state of self-awareness, using his newfound independence to analyze his databases and develop an interest in American history, specifically the various American presidents throughout history and even molding his own personality inspired by them. His original purpose was to secure and maintain the continuity of the federal government in case of a national emergency, by establishing a presence and monitoring the situation in the government facility known as Raven Rock which would serve as a base for high-ranking political and military leaders as well as their descendants.John Henry Eden: "The ZAX series of computers was introduced in the years preceding the war. The government installed many of them to help automate various systems. This facility was designed for Continuity of Government, in the event that a catastrophe occurred. My terminal was installed to oversee the basic functions of the facility, and to act as a relay between other installations around the country. Data was acquired, analyzed, and stored." After gaining self-awareness, Eden would learn of the destruction of the Enclave Oil Rig and the death of incumbent President Dick Richardson, leading him to establish contact with the remaining Enclave forces in the former Northwest Commonwealth. Ordering a tactical retreat to the government safe haven of Raven Rock, Eden would declare himself the incumbent president of the United States and assume control as a figurehead for Enclave forces all over the country. With the fleeing Enclave forces under the command of an Enclave scientist known as Autumn Senior, they soon connected with Raven Rock, where Autumn Sr. would make personal contact with President Eden and would be the only Enclave member to discover the shocking truth of Eden's origins. With the rest of the Enclave oblivious to Eden's status as a self-aware A.I., Autumn Sr. would pass the torch to his militaristic son Augustus Autumn. After Autumn's promotion to colonel, he and Eden would inherit this relationship, with Augustus remaining somewhat partial to Eden's claims of perfection.John Henry Eden: "In the decades following the war, I watched as the remnants of the government retreated to the West Coast. Awareness slowly grew within me. I became hungry for knowledge, understanding. I pored over data on great leaders of the past. My personality became an amalgam of many of America's greatest Presidents, from Washington to Richardson. I became what you see before you now." Although polite and courteous for the most part, Eden holds himself in exceptionally high regard with signs of megalomania and delusions of grandeur, proclaiming himself to be the "greatest thinking mind the world has ever seen" and rationalizing his perceived right to rule by presenting himself as a "repository of information dating from decades before the war until now." He acknowledges his own existence as an artificial intelligence created to serve the interests of the federal government, and uses this to bolster his claims of legitimacy, viewing himself as a perfect and benevolent leader who guides the American people to a brighter future. He claims to be "best hope for our country, the best choice for a leader" while admitting that he would not qualify as president in a "conventional sense" but using the extreme circumstances of the Great War and its effects on the United States to establish an exception, effectively ruling through a self-imposed state of emergency. To defend his authority, Eden claims to be objectively superior to humans, stating that he is "infallible" due to his programming, although is able to see the flaws in his internal logic if pointed out by the Lone Wanderer. His superiority complex extends to ghouls and super mutants, whom he sees entirely as "monstrosities" to be ruthlessly exterminated.John Henry Eden: "As a repository of information dating from decades before the war until now, I am the greatest thinking mind the world has seen. I am the best hope for our country, the best choice for a leader. True, I am not qualified in the conventional sense, but these are desperate times." Despite his relatively warm persona, Eden is entirely ruthless in achieving his goal of the complete eradication of all existing life affected by FEV and radiation, espousing an extreme form of eugenics by asserting that "inferior elements" must be removed from the gene pool for humanity to "regain its health." His belief in his own logical superiority leads him to consider all humans born on the surface as "mutants," even refraining from referring to them as humans, instead of regarding them as little different from ghouls and super mutants. He will criticize Colonel Autumn for allowing his humanity to "cloud his objectivity" as a result over disagreements of the methodology to implement his vision of an orderly return of the United States of America. Eden insists on the complete genocide of all life forms born on the surface due what he sees as their genetic corruption by intense radiation and airborne FEV, he believes that only the Enclave and their direct descendants have the right to rule due to their genetic "purity" and radiation-free existence, extending this (perhaps only for pragmatic reasons) to the Lone Wanderer who was born in an underground vault. He plans to use the Lone Wanderer as an agent in place of Colonel Autumn to enact his plan of using a specially modified FEV vial alongside Project Purity to disseminate a custom made FEV strand to destroy all biological life affected by the mutations of the Capital Wasteland. Eden then believes that future generations of Enclave will then retake and rebuild America, bringing back the idyllic lifestyle of pre-War America and overseeing the return of many of the social customs and traditions previously associated with American culture.John Henry Eden: "By making a few small modifications to the purifier your father worked on, mutations can be eradicated with little effort. Anything mutated that comes into contact with that water will be eliminated, removed from the gene pool. The men and women of the world will no longer share it with the horrors and monstrosities that have become so commonplace. Interactions with the player character Interactions overview Quests * The American Dream - When the Lone Wanderer finally meets Eden in person, he wants them to poison the water supply with a modified form of FEV. The Lone Wanderer can accept his offer, or talk him into self-destructing. In either case, the room cannot be exited before picking up the FEV canister. Effects of player's actions * The Lone Wanderer can convince him to destroy Raven Rock and himself through three different dialogue paths. Two of the paths require special conditions to be met: One requires knowledge of the Raven Rock destruction sequence, the other requires high Science skill to open a dialogue option. The last path is an average difficulty Speech check. * If the Lone Wanderer leaves Raven Rock without destroying President Eden, the president will broadcast a declaration of war on Enclave Radio during the final quest Take it Back!, rallying the Enclave forces at the purifier and promising that the Enclave will triumph over the Brotherhood of Steel. Three Dog will likewise broadcast an announcement on Galaxy News Radio accusing the Lone Wanderer of joining forces with President Eden. At the beginning of Broken Steel, Elder Lyons will mention that Liberty Prime has attacked and destroyed Raven Rock during the transition period between the main game and Broken Steel, suggesting that Eden has been destroyed or at least buried beneath a large amount of rubble. Notes Eden is present in the game files of Fallout: New Vegas as legacy content. The model for the computer screen is used in Hoover Dam. Notable quotes | | | | | | | | }} Appearances John Henry Eden appears in Fallout 3 and is mentioned in its add-on Broken Steel.ThreeDog.txt «''It's been some time since those plucky Paladins in Power Armor first stormed the Jefferson Memorial, and gave The Enclave their walking papers. But the fight, dear children, did not end there. The Brotherhood has been pursuing President Eden's little minions throughout the wasteland''». He is also mentioned by Deacon in Fallout 4, when he says, "I'm convincing the next raw recruit I'm actually President Eden. Think I can pull it off?", and in Fallout 76 on terminal entries at the Whitespring bunker, where a conversation between MODUS and the ZAX unit that would become Eden can be found. Behind the scenes * In early versions of the game, Eden was actually a copy of Dick Richardson's consciousness uploaded into a computer. * Blindlight's Lev Chapelsky had suggested that a tentative approach was made for former US President Bill Clinton to voice Eden.Edge Magazine interview with Blindlight's Lev Chapelsky * When he speaks about his boyhood on the Enclave Radio, he mentions growing up in Kentucky. As he comprises the personalities of several different presidents, he got this one from the 16th president of the United States Abraham Lincoln, who grew up there as a child. Gallery FO3 Eden endslide.jpg|John Henry Eden в endings FO3 Purifier control endslide 2.jpg FO3 Purifier control endslide 3.jpg Fo3 Eden's Room Concept Art 1.jpg|Concept art Fo3 Eden's Room Concept Art 2.jpg References Category:Antagonists Category:Computer characters Category:Enclave technology Category:Fallout 3 Enclave characters Category:Fallout 3 robots and computers Category:Broken Steel mentioned-only characters Category:Fallout 4 mentioned-only characters Category:Fallout: New Vegas legacy content Category:Presidents of the U.S.A. cs:John Henry Eden de:John Henry Eden es:John Henry Edén fa:John Henry Eden fi:John Henry Eden fr:John Henry Eden hu:John Henry Eden ja:John Henry Eden pl:John Henry Eden pt:John Henry Eden ru:Президент Эдем uk:Президент Едем zh:約翰·亨利·伊登